The Chill of Leaf-Bare
by MantraArcana
Summary: Rated T Because Everything I do is rated T (Fire X Gray) Leaf-Bare is upon the cats of ThunderClan, and Graystripe is still coping with the loss of his mate. Fireheart is trying to be there to the best of his abilities.


Snow fell slowly from the navy blue sky as Fireheart stretched his legs from a late afternoon nap. His bones ached; he had not intended to sleep for as long as he did. After his early morning patrol, and an extremely successful hunting mission, he knew that he'd deserved a rest. He rolled his front paw in order to crack his bones a bit before getting up and stretching. He arched his back and his legs extended, making the ginger tom yawn. He blinked his shining green eyes and glanced up and the white fluff that was falling from the sky. It was enough snow to barely cover the land, it wasn't heavy, meaning it would probably all be melted by tomorrow. He sighed, annoyed. _"At least I got my hunting done before the snow came…"_ he told himself.

Leaf-bare was finally here, it was obvious. The leaves were all off the trees, the weather was now always cold, and it was snowing quite a lot this season, even though the snow didn't stay very long. The camp didn't have much more than a slight carpet of snow. It made hunting a chore for the following day, that's for sure. He had not planned to go out again. That is, until he glanced around the camp to find his best friend padding towards the exit of ThunderClan. "Graystripe!" He called out.

The gray tom did not respond. Perhaps he just didn't hear him. Fireheart's mood worsened as he realized his best friend was still in grieving. How could he have forgotten? Fireheart sat and ruminated on the horrific events that had taken place approximately a moon ago unfold before his eyes. He recalled that Silverstream, Graystripe's mate had recently passed onto StarClan and his friend was understandably, not taking it well. It didn't help that the kits that she had died for were his, and in another clan. This made Graystripe always appear either sad or angry, which kept most of the ThunderClan cats at a distance. The ginger tom quickly hopped over to his sad, gray friend, "Hey, where are you off to?" he asked with a slight yawn to his tone. This was one of the few times that they had spoken since the incident. Graystripe didn't want to talk, like usual, but Fireheart had really begun to miss his long-time friend.

As the days passed he simply grew further and further away. Graystripe had intentionally missed the last gathering, he would go on hunting trips alone, regardless of orders. Sometimes, he would leave camp altogether to go talk to the star-lit sky above, as if he was talking to the late Silverstream about the kits and how deeply he missed them. Graystripe ached for his love a lot, even a newborn kit could see that.

Fireheart had begun to notice over the last couple of days that Graystripe stopped talking to the stars and began socializing with the clan again. Finally, it looked like things were slowly getting back to normal. It took Graystripe a while, but he was finally willing to be a warrior of ThunderClan once again. Fireheart smiled, _"Surely he wouldn't mind my company now that he's free...right…?"_ Fireheart's belly was filled with butterflies at that moment of doubt. What if his best-friend didn't want to talk to him anymore. What if Graystripe blamed him for Silverstream's death? This sudden anxiousness made Fireheart very uneasy. He tried to hide it the best he could so Graystripe couldn't tell.

"I'm just going for a walk." The long furred gray tom said a bit roughly and quickly. Graystripe seemed to be defensive.

" _Great...He DOES blame me...He's always been mad at me hasn't he…?"_ This feeling of regret and loneliness was a hard concept for Fireheart to grasp; he didn't understand how to handle it, so he tried to shrug it off. "Well...mind if I join you? We haven't spoken in a long time!" he said with a wide grin and smile, very carefully trying to hide what he was thinking on the inside. He prayed to StarClan that Graystripe would not reject his offer. The gray tom cracked a small smile along with an exhausted sounding sigh, "Sure...Why not." he said with a soft chuckle. Fireheart gave a soft sigh of his own, followed by a slight purr and a nuzzle to Graystripe's side, "Well then, let's go!" Fireheart exclaimed, bouncing off and leading them outside the camp.

The snow had not gotten any better since the day before. It was very deep, albeit soft snow. The cool breeze sent a shiver down Fireheart's spine, "It-It's really cold out today isn't it…?" he asked, turning to Graystripe. The gray tom had a long, thick pelt. It was safe to say he didn't feel the cold very easily. Fireheart turned back, _"That was stupid, of course he's not cold you idiot…"_ he thought to himself. Graystripe chuckled a bit, "Yeah, it's a little colder than usual. There's not a cloud out in the sky tonight...Look." he said, sitting down in the snow and looking up at the beautiful navy blue sky that was dotted with silver, twinkling stars. The crescent moon shone brilliantly and made Graystripe's eyes sparkle a bit in the light. Fireheart smiled a bit as his fur grew moderately warm with embarrassment

Graystripe turned his head to catch Fireheart watching, "What? Expecting me to say something?" He asked. Fireheart couldn't tell if Graystripe was playing around or a bit insulted. The ginger tom shook his head quickly, "N-No, sorry. You...Erm...Seem a bit...thin. Have you been eating properly?" he asked suddenly, covering up his staring. The long furred tom simply laughed, "I take that as a compliment! I feel like I've gotten heavier," He paused for over dramatic effect, " I've been eating quite a bit actually!' Graystripe laughed wholeheartedly with a large, goofy grin, as he used to.

The ginger tom smirked a bit, "Ha-ha...I live to make you feel good about yourself." he teased as he continued to walk onwards. It must have been a long walk, Fireheart had lost track of time talking and catching up with his best friend. After a while of walking, the two toms noticed small, dim lights, flickering in the distance, between the tree trunks. Graystripe noticed this rather quickly, "What's that?" he asked, kicking up snow as he suddenly dashed towards them. "Hey, wait for me!" Fireheart cried, running after him. It took a few moments of sprinting after him, but once he caught up, Graystripe had stopped in his tracks. He was staring up at the fence that Fireheart used to sit on when he was a kittypet. The top of the fence was decorated in shining lights that occasionally flickered.

"What are these?" Graystripe asked, walking up to the base of the fence and glancing up at the pretty lights with a wide smile of optimism. Fireheart's ears flickered, he had remembered what these were, his mother had told him all about it. The emerald-eyed tom went and sat next to his friend, "Christmas lights." he said happily, "At least- that's what the two-legs called them. I remember when I was a kit, my mother told me all about it when the weather turned cold. It's a time of beautiful lights and sharing moments with the ones you love…" Fireheart said, smiling and getting lost in his memories.

"Kind of like what we're doing now, huh? Sharing a moment?" Graystripe said, glancing over at Fireheart with a soft tone to his voice, "Christmas...I like the idea of it...but not the lights. Don't get me wrong, they're pretty, but I'm not touching them." He laughed, scooting a bit closer to Fireheart. Fireheart could feel his friend's warm pelt and his heart skipped a beat, realizing what he had said. "What was that…?" the ginger tom asked quietly, thinking he hadn't heard him right. Graystripe chuckled, "What are you? Deaf? No, I said, 'They're _pretty_ , but I'm not _touching them_.'" He repeated with loud diction on those words with a chuckle. Fireheart let out a purr of amusement, "Not that you idiot, I meant before that…?" he asked with a gentle smile. Graystripe rolled his eyes, "Before _that_? Hmm...I said, "Christmas...I like the idea of it."" he mewed, half mocking himself. The ginger tom let out a frustrated sigh, "I hate you." he said with some teasing in his voice.

Graystripe turned his head to look at Fireheart, "Guess what?"

"What…?"

Graystripe touched his nose to Fireheart's, "I hate you more…" he said with a soft purr.


End file.
